WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans marking the nation's 250th birthday can now search for parents, grandparents, siblings and other loved ones who served in the U.S. military and watch their names appear seconds later across two towering digital American flags on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
The National Military Monument, sponsored by USAA and opened Monday as one of the signature installations of the nationwide America250 celebration, puts corporate branding and military reverence on the same polished pedestal. It honors more than 41 million Americans whose military service spans from the Revolutionary War through today, while Fox News Digital got an exclusive preview before the public opening.
Built from military records, public databases, veterans organizations and voluntary submissions, the interactive installation asks visitors to do the work themselves. They pull out smartphones, scan a QR code at one of several kiosks and receive a six-digit code that summons a loved one's name onto one of the two digital American flags overlooking the Reflecting Pool. Each side cycles through roughly 1,500 names every 45 seconds, or about 480,000 names every hour.
Who Gets to Be Seen
The monument stands on the Lincoln Memorial Plaza between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument because organizers wanted one of the National Mall's most heavily visited locations during the America250 celebration. Families gathered around kiosks searching for relatives. Veterans waited quietly as names appeared overhead. At one point, George Washington's name stretched across the display, a visual reminder that the monument traces military service from Lexington and Concord to Afghanistan and beyond.
The installation combines military records and public databases dating back to the Revolutionary War with information from veterans service organizations and USAA members who chose to participate. Because no single government archive contains every American who has served, organizers said the project will keep growing as veterans and families verify military service and submit names not yet represented. Some currently serving military members and veterans may not appear because of privacy protections or gaps in historical records.
That leaves the monument with a familiar hierarchy: those already documented, verified and visible get honored first, while others remain outside the frame until the paperwork catches up.
The People Below the Display
For Navy veteran and USAA Creative Director John Guzman, the monument's purpose became clear with one search. Standing beside one of the kiosks during Fox News Digital's preview, Guzman entered the name of his grandfather, Walter Allen, who served during World War II. "There he is," Guzman said as his grandfather's name appeared across the monument. "Even though I knew I was going to find him, it's still heavy to see it come up in all of the best ways," he said. "This is one of the role models I had growing up from a very, very young child. And even though he's not with us now, the whole family would be incredibly proud to see him here." Asked what his grandfather would think, Guzman said, "I know him well enough to know he would say there's about 100 other guys he'd rather see up there... I can hear his voice right now saying that."
The same experience played out for first-time visitors Tim and Tenika Eardley, who traveled from Wyoming expecting to see Washington's historic landmarks, not the newest one. The couple searched for a family member currently serving in the National Guard. "My uncle and her brother—we looked him up on there," their son, Warren Eardley, said. "That was really neat just to be able to see him on there." Tenika said, "It feels really meaningful to be able to know that I can look up any relative or friend or anything like that and be able find them and honor them." She added, "It feels like such a personalized experience that we really can see those people that we know and love honored right here in D.C."
The monument sells intimacy, but it still runs through a corporate-sponsored machine on federal ground, with visitors scanning codes and waiting for names to cycle past on command.
What USAA Says It Means
Bob Labrutta, a retired Air Force major general who now serves as USAA's vice president of survivorship, said that reaction is exactly what organizers hoped visitors would experience. After nearly four decades in uniform, Labrutta said he thought he understood what the monument represented until he searched for members of his own family. "I've got two brothers that served," he said. "But when I brought my dad's name up on the side of the wall and I saw him commemorated... I had tears in my eyes and my heart filled with pure joy and pride. Pride in this country. Pride in USAA for doing this." He added, "Because this is what we should be doing each and every day: honoring, thanking and paying tribute to the military members who have served this nation so nobly."
Labrutta said the installation was intentionally designed to honor not only decorated military leaders but the millions of Americans whose service often goes unrecognized. "I wouldn't say our soldiers are ordinary," he said. "Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guard members, our Guardians—none of them are ordinary." He said, "When they raise their right hand, they say not only, 'Send me,' but 'I'm willing to give up my life for this great country.' That makes them extraordinary."
While the monument was created during the nation's semiquincentennial celebration, Labrutta said its purpose extends beyond America's 250th birthday. "It doesn't just apply to military families," he said. "It applies to all American citizens." He added, "We wouldn't have had an Independence Day if we wouldn't have had citizens that raised their hand and said, 'You know what? This is worth fighting for.'" Generation after generation, he said, Americans have protected the freedoms the country enjoys today. "This is not only for our veterans and for their families," Labrutta said. "This is for all Americans to embrace and to honor."
The monument's polished language of tribute doesn't hide the machinery underneath it. Military records, public databases, veterans organizations and voluntary submissions feed the display. USAA sponsors it. The National Mall hosts it. Visitors do the searching. The names rise and fall on schedule. The whole thing turns sacrifice into a managed experience, with the state, the military and a corporate sponsor all taking a bow while ordinary people stand below and look up.